U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,959,386; 3,312,221; 3,345,023; and 4,019,707 all describe structures for mounting a urinary drainage bag to a bed rail. However, all of these patents have a disadvantage in that they have sections that very closely follow the bed rail's profile. Thus, they are not well suited for various shapes and sizes of bed rails. A bed rail often changes shape along its length, such as in a pivotal fold joint. An inverted L-shaped bed rail often takes on a different shape adjacent pivot joints in an adjustable bed. Sometimes it is desirable to position a urinary drainage container adjacent such pivot joints in the bed rail. Loop-type flexible hangers for securing a urinary drainage container to the bed rail are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,231,901 and 3,537,109. These loop-type hangers have a disadvantage with some bed models in that they support the drainage container a significant distance below the bed rail. In low slung bed models, this can cause the drainage container to contact the floor and increase the possibility of contaminating the container.
As it is important to secure the drainage container as high on the bed rail as possible to avoid floor contact, an extremely large and loose fitting hook structure of perhaps 5 inch diameter to freely go over every bed rail is not practical.